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Re: Alden update...

Since there is a discussion of DIFAX on the LDM users message list, here's a message I sent out on the DIFAX circuit yesterday:
Here's an update to my suggestion that some of you might want to consider getting DIFAX from Unisys instead of Alden.
Our current DIFAX agreement with Unisys ends on Sep 30. I contacted Mike Porreca at Unisys to set up the next year's blanket purchase order for DIFAX. He told me that there would have to be a price increase for the service. That didn't surprise me, everything costs more today than it did yesterday. Then he told me what the increase was and I was surprised.
For educational institutions, the price is going from $300.00 per year to $3300.00 per year. That's a modest 1000% increase. He said it costs Unisys over $300.00 just to process the paperwork for one school. It sounds as though they intend to pass the costs for their bad management practices along to their customers. 

Needless to say, we will not be getting DIFAX from Unisys next year.
He did tip Unisys's hand a bit. He said "Where else are you going to get DIFAX?" Sounds as though they've been following the Alden epic, too. And then he said "If Unidata were to contract with us, instead of individual schools, then the schools could get DIFAX for $300.00 per year." The quotations are approximations, I never bothered to learn shorthand. The dollar costs are exact, however.
Sorry if I raised anyone's expectations. I guess we'll just learn to live without DIFAX. This is sad, because Dan Vietor has created a really neat PNG format version of DIFAX and it's as good as any other DIFAX product I've ever seen. 

Larry







---===---=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=====[\/]=====-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=---===---
-----===(*  Climate's what we expect, but weather's what we get.  *)===-----
Larry Riddle | Climate Research Div | Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California, San Diego | La Jolla, California 92093-0224
Phone: (858) 534-1869 | Fax: (858) 534-8561 | EMail: address@hidden
http://meteora.ucsd.edu/weather.html